Snowboard Fixing Device

ABSTRACT

A snowboard binding has a front fixation device and a rear fixation device. The front fixation device and the rear fixation device secure a snowboard boot in a way that the snowboard boot is able to perform a free lateral roll movement about an axis extending in a longitudinal direction of the snowboard binding. The front and rear fixation devices have pivot points located in an area of a toe of the snowboard boot and in an area of a heel of the snowboard boot, respectively.

The invention concerns a snowboard binding according to the preamble of claim 1.

Snowboard bindings are known in many embodiments. One embodiment provides that the snowboard binding has a front fixation device as well as a rear fixation device. By means of these two fixation devices, the tip as well as the heel of the snowboard boot is secured on the snowboard.

A disadvantage of this known snowboard binding resides in that the snowboard boot is more or less rigidly secured in the binding. This causes the riding comfort to diminish.

Based on this, it is an object of the invention to provide a snowboard binding of the aforementioned kind with improved riding comfort.

The technical solution is characterized by the features in the characterizing portion of claim 1.

In this way, a snowboard binding is provided that, in comparison to the known snowboard bindings, is characterized by improved riding comfort. The basic idea of the snowboard binding resides in that the snowboard boot is no longer rigidly secured between the front fixation device and the rear fixation device but, instead, according to the invention the snowboard boot can carry out a lateral roll movement. This means that the snowboard boot is suspended like a swing. In this way, the lateral roll movement can be carried out freely. The free execution of roll movement means that the tilting position of the snowboard boot relative to the snowboard binding can be adjusted freely depending on the position of the snowboard rider on the snowboard. It is however conceivable that by means of a corresponding spring device at increasing tilting angle an increasing restoring force will be generated.

Preferably, according to the embodiment of claim 2, the two pivot points are located in the area of the toe of the snowboard boot and in the area of the heel of the snowboard boot. This means more or less that the longitudinal center axis of the foot substantially defines the roll movement axis of the snowboard boot in the snowboard binding.

A technical realization is proposed by the embodiment according to claim 3. The basic idea for technical realization resides in a rotary support. In this connection, the rotary support can be embodied immediately between the snowboard boot and the two fixation devices. However, an indirect configuration of the rotary support is conceivable in that a separate rotary device is provided that receives the snowboard boot.

A concrete technical realization of the aforementioned rotary support is proposed by the embodiment according to claim 4. Accordingly, the rotary support is formed by a rotary projection, in particular by a rotary pin according to claim 5, that engages a matching receptacle. In this connection, the rotary projection can be arranged either on the snowboard boot (for a receiving housing for the snowboard boot) or, alternatively, on the fixation device. The matching receptacle is then formed at the other part. Instead of being in the form of a rotary pin, the rotary projection can also be in the form of a cylinder section or a half moon-shaped part that is open in the downward direction and on which the receptacle is supported. Other shapes are easily conceivable. It is decisive that a lateral roll movement is enabled.

An immediate rotary support is proposed according to the embodiment of claim 6 wherein the rotary projection is formed directly on the snowboard boot. This means that the snowboard boot, at the toe as well as the heel, has a rotary projection wherein the axes of the two rotary projections are aligned with one another.

An alternative is proposed in claim 7. In this connection, an indirect rotary support is provided in that the rotary projection is formed on an additional housing that receives the snowboard boot. However, in this connection a reverse arrangement is conceivable also in that the rotary projection is arranged on the fixation device while the receptacle is provided on the housing.

According to the embodiment of claim 8 the two fixation devices are shell-shaped. This shell-shaped embodiment has the advantage that the heel as well as the toe of the snowboard boot are secured optimally and that moreover in both shells a receptacle for the rotary support can be formed.

Finally, the embodiment according to claim 9 proposes that the two fixation devices with respect to their distance are adjustable relative to one another. This has the advantage that the snowboard binding can be used universally for different snowboard boot sizes.

One embodiment of the snowboard binding according to the invention will be explained to the following with the aid of the drawings. It is shown in:

FIG. 1 a perspective view of the snowboard binding;

FIG. 2 a front view of the snowboard binding of FIG. 1 showing a roll movement in one direction;

FIG. 3 a front view of the snowboard binding of FIG. 1 showing a roll movement in the other direction.

The snowboard binding has a shell-shaped front fixation device 1 as well as a rear fixation device 2 that is also shell-shaped and is provided with a heel support 3. A snowboard boot 4 is indicated only schematically in the drawing. It is secured between the front fixation device 1 and the rear fixation device 2.

The special feature of such a securing action of the snowboard boot 4 resides in a rotary support 5 in such a way that the snowboard boot 4 can be freely pivoted by a lateral roll movement about an axis A extending in a longitudinal direction of the snowboard binding. For providing the rotary support 5 the front end as well as the heel of the snowboard boot 4 have a cylindrical rotary pin 6 wherein the axes of these two rotary pins 6 are aligned with one another and coincide with the axis A of the rotary support 5. Corresponding to these two rotary pins 6 the front fixation device 1 as well as the rear fixation device 2 each have a receptacle 7 in which the two rotary pins 8 are rotatably supported about axis A.

The function is as follows.

As already mentioned, the two rotary pins 6 of the snowboard boot 4 define a rotary support 5 for rotating the snowboard boot 4 about the axis A. This means that, depending on the riding position and position of the snowboard rider on the snowboard, the snowboard boot 4 performs a tilting movement about the axis A, either in one or the other direction as indicated in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 front fixation device -   2 rear fixation device -   3 heel support -   4 snowboard boot -   5 rotary support -   6 rotary pin -   7 receptacle -   A axis 

1-9. (canceled)
 10. Snowboard binding comprising: a front fixation device and a rear fixation device; wherein the front fixation device and the rear fixation device secure a snowboard boot in a way that the snowboard boot is enabled to perform a free lateral roll movement about an axis extending in a longitudinal direction of the snowboard binding.
 11. Snowboard binding according to claim 10, wherein the front fixation device and the rear fixation device each comprise a pivot point and wherein the pivot points are located in an area of a toe of the snowboard boot and in an area of a heel of the snowboard boot.
 12. Snowboard binding according to claim 11, wherein between the toe of the snowboard boot and the front fixation device and between the heel of the snowboard boot and the rear fixation device a rotary support is provided, respectively.
 13. Snowboard binding according to claim 12, wherein said rotary supports are comprised of a rotary projection and a matching receptacle, respectively.
 14. Snowboard binding according to claim 13, wherein said rotary supports are disposed between the snowboard boot and the front and rear fixation devices.
 15. Snowboard binding according to claim 13, wherein said rotary supports are disposed between a housing, serving as a receptacle for the snowboard boot, and the front and rear fixation devices.
 16. Snowboard binding according to claim 13, wherein the rotary projection is a rotary pin.
 17. Snowboard binding according to claim 13, wherein the rotary projections are formed directly on the snowboard boot.
 18. Snowboard binding according to claim 13, wherein the rotary projections are formed on a housing serving as a receptacle for the snowboard boot.
 19. Snowboard binding according to claim 10, wherein the front and rear fixation devices each are shell-shaped.
 20. Snowboard binding according to claim 10, wherein the front and rear fixation devices are adjustable with regard to a longitudinal distance relative to one another in a longitudinal direction of the snowboard binding. 